Is Droid Worth it With Google Phone rumors swirling

[jb1]

Im literally a day away from ordering the droid, but recently in the last few days more and more google phone rumors, now i know its virtually impossible to stay up to date in the technology world these days but what does everyone else thing?

 

[sooper_droid12]

If you're not anxious to own a 'droid phone, wait for it. I wouldn't hold my breath. Either way, from the sounds of it, you'll still have to hook up with a data provider and who knows what they'll charge for a 'droid data "phone." At this point, while Google needs to partner with a data provider, it is unlikely that they'll burn any bridges rushing out a Google phone. Also, some one will have to subsidize the price of the "phone" because these smartphones ain't cheap. $600 for the iPhone without a phone plan, $800 for the DROID. But who knows? In the meantime, I'm enjoying the DROID.

 

[jb1]

yeah i want an android phone haha, my upgrade is just getting made available. Now ive also seen alot of buzz about the htc passion/dragon.. any other thoughts ?

 

[Legacystar]

from what i've seen in the past verizon doesn't let you buy a phone and activate it on there network. either you buy if through them or don't use them. seems to be that way with CDMA. chances are it will be a GSM phone like the nokia n900. awsome phone but no provider is carrying it so it's expensive.

the droid is awsome and well worth getting. it's a powerhouse. plus you have the monster verizon network behind you i'm spanking my roomates iphone 3gs on the speed test app

from what i've read the dragon will run at only 850mhz for reliability and is a SOC as where the droid is not, it has a seperate GPU making it faster.

 

[Zoompy]

I would consider *what* you want it for first. Once you know what you want start to compare features. If you aren't in a rush, just wait.

 

[sooper_droid12]

I'm under no disillusion. Here's REALLY what the DROID does (to take page out of their advertising):

DROID put Android OS in the mainstream. I mean, live directions from two of Time Square's largest jumbotrons, advertising DROID all day? Recent releases have estimated that nearly 700K DROID units have sold thus far with an estimated 1M units likely by the end of the quarter. DROID put Android on the map, so to speak. No disrespect to other Android phones. But 2.0 was really the roll out. 2.1 promises to be slightly more refined. This obviously has gotten developers and Google on their toes.

What DROID did was open the floodgates to better phones to roll out. Motorola can't rest on their laurels. DROID does a lot and man, I do love it. But you can't put it past HTC with their SLICK Sense UI. Can it be emulated on the DROID? Sure, but not perfectly. So, you have your work cut out for you in picking the right Android phone.

For me, I was an early adopter. I didn't pick up the DROID for the low, low price of $120 from Dell, or even got the $50 from Bestbuy. I bought it from VZW, day of... and it was worth it. Handled my contracts and plans with no problems. Great phone. Yeah, there are some issues, but the first release of anything will have its niggles. Certainly, not enough to return it for me or trade to the Droid Eris (nice phone by the way).

The cool thing about the HTC Dragon/Passion is the 1GHz processor and running 2.0 and Sense. Probably overkill for an Android phone, but you got to run the numbers against the new Windows Mobile phones. It's a good advertising scheme: "WM running 1GHz, so does the HTC Android phone."

We'll just see how much it costs when it comes out. But equally good if not better than DROID, IMO. We'll see when the roll-out nears more. If DROID nearly buried the iPhone, I think HTC's Passion will finish the job.

 

[DGalt]

just to clarify, Droid does have a SOC processor.

see here: so... 550mhz? - Page 3 - Droid Forum - Verizon Droid & the Motorola Droid Forum

To be honest, I've been wrestling with this myself. I really love my Droid, but I can see myself being sad if in 2 months google or HTC release some insanely killer device. luckily I can replace my phone every year, so at this point I'm just going to stick with the Droid. With the update on December 11th and with devs optimizing their apps the Droid is only going to become a better phone with time. Also, I didn't think I would use the hardware keyboard but now you couldn't pry it from my hands. That for me is the biggest reason why I wouldn't adopt the HTC Passion (besides the fact that both the Passion and the Google phone are nothing more than rumors at this point...I'll believe in them when I see an actual picture of them/an official release from someone with some type of credentials)

 

[sooper_droid12]

from what i've seen in the past verizon doesn't let you buy a phone and activate it on there network. either you buy if through them or don't use them. seems to be that way with CDMA. chances are it will be a GSM phone like the nokia n900. awsome phone but no provider is carrying it so it's expensive.

the droid is awsome and well worth getting. it's a powerhouse. plus you have the monster verizon network behind you i'm spanking my roomates iphone 3gs on the speed test app

from what i've read the dragon will run at only 850mhz for reliability and is a SOC as where the droid is not, it has a seperate GPU making it faster.

Also, HTC won't be the only phone maker using the processor. Sony has one in line, but the major hindrance there is price. Again, if or when this phone does hit the market, I'm thinking this is going to be one of those pricey HTC phones that exceeds $300. I mean, remember when the Diamond came out? That thing was out of reach price-wise, even with contract. Sony is having issues finding someone who will subsidize the hefy price tag of their phone. HTC will find the same problem.

 

[admorris]

If you keep waiting on the "next best thing", you will never get a phone. Once/if the snapdragon does come out, there will be other phone rumors on the horizon...probably a 1.2ghz processor or something. Bottom line, if you like the phone and it does what you want it to do in a timely manner then get it!

 

[DGalt]

snapdragon is kind of a big jump from where processors are at right now. i certainly agree that for the most part the changes are very incremental, making the need to constantly upgrade rather small. But every now and then there is a jump that makes the predecessors look, well, like predecessors. I'm not saying snapdragon is this, b/c we really don't know how well it works, but it could certainly be just that.

 

[andrew53517]

snapdragon is kind of a big jump from where processors are at right now. i certainly agree that for the most part the changes are very incremental, making the need to constantly upgrade rather small. But every now and then there is a jump that makes the predecessors look, well, like predecessors. I'm not saying snapdragon is this, b/c we really don't know how well it works, but it could certainly be just that.

How much better could the snapdragon processor be than the A8 cortex one in the droid? Could it honestly be THAT much faster?!

 

[DGalt]

from my understanding they're the same architecture, so the actual processor speed does matter. yes the differences probably only translate into a few ms differences in load times, but how many of have upgrade our PC CPUs for just a few ms's or seconds worth of speed differences?

 

[colnago]

from what i've seen in the past verizon doesn't let you buy a phone and activate it on there network. either you buy if through them or don't use them. seems to be that way with CDMA. chances are it will be a GSM phone like the nokia n900. awsome phone but no provider is carrying it so it's expensive....

Yeah, but at $499, you could jump on TMo w/n900, do 500min for $29/mo., and add data for another $10, and it would more than cover any subsidy in the first year vs. same VZ/DROID plan...whether the n900 will do it for you is the ques. however. I took my Droid back mainly for reception issues, and compared to the TP2 I was waiting for, DROID is so much more responsive. If it had TV Out it would suit me fine in GSM trim.FWIW, word on the street is that Canada will get a North American GSM version in Q1 2010, but whether one can get it to work "down here" is not known...should have the hardware though.

 

[SimonSays]

My thoughts regarding new phones are similar to my thoughts on computer hardware: unless I know the release date of something better in the upcoming couple weeks, I buy the best available in my price range, when I need it. Within the next 6 months, it's pretty much guaranteed that a better android 2.0 device is going to be released. All you really need to ask yourself is if you need/want a new phone, and if the droid's features are worth the price to you.

Tech rumors are just that: rumors. There's no certainty in them, companies go back on what they say all the time (or are you still waiting on Duke Nukem forever?).

 

[mully]

just to clarify, Droid does have a SOC processor.

see here: so... 550mhz? - Page 3 - Droid Forum - Verizon Droid & the Motorola Droid Forum

To be honest, I've been wrestling with this myself. I really love my Droid, but I can see myself being sad if in 2 months google or HTC release some insanely killer device. luckily I can replace my phone every year, so at this point I'm just going to stick with the Droid. With the update on December 11th and with devs optimizing their apps the Droid is only going to become a better phone with time. Also, I didn't think I would use the hardware keyboard but now you couldn't pry it from my hands. That for me is the biggest reason why I wouldn't adopt the HTC Passion (besides the fact that both the Passion and the Google phone are nothing more than rumors at this point...I'll believe in them when I see an actual picture of them/an official release from someone with some type of credentials)

I, too, can upgrade every year with $50 off. That made it an easy decision for me......no more waiting for the HTC Dragon or Google phone. I can play with the Moto Droid for a year.....Heck, after getting the phone, I realized I didn't "settle" at all. This Droid is everything it's cracked up to be...and then some. I'm 100% satisfied.

 

[DGalt]

The way I look at it is by next Christmas Android will have officially killed the iPhone (it's going to happen, the droid is just the first step) and there will be some amazingly killer phones out. Until then the Droid will be more than suitable

I don't know if this true, but I thought I read someone on this forum that Verizon was letting people who bought the Droid upgrade in 6 months. Don't take my word on that, I haven't looked into it. But the rational was based off of the fact that people who bought the BB Storm got screwed and were stuck with a sub-par device, so to avoid that in case the same became true with the Droid Verizon was making an exception. Would be great if someone could find some real evidence for that though

 

[ocean1]

Just get the Droid, good phone dont wait on a rumor. You may wait a VERY long time. I been hanging out on the Passion board hoping to trade up my Droid for this Passion phone. I think we are all coming to the conclusion it was a hoax. Just another Rumor phone based on a phone for GSM. Droid is getting an update should fix many of the problems. Its a good phone,nice Os if you can read the small fonts lol. Slide out keyboard? Dont buy the Droid for that it sux. We need to make a board for unicorn phones. File the Passion under that and the Google phone.

 

[Bxrider11]

I was in the same boat. I had an upgrade available since July 09. I did not buy anything because I wanted to see what new phones were coming out on Big Red. I had the BB Storm and really liked the touch screen. I researched the Moto Droid and HTC Eris. I went with the Eris b/c of feel and the possibility that it will be updated to the same OS as the Droid, but include SEnse UI. Coming from a BB, I have patience when it comes to upgading OSs.

As far as the passion, I am not sure if we will see it this year. I think that all major carriers are going to release their version of a high end phone with s asuper fast processor between Q1+Q2 of 2010. As much as they are rivals, I think they still work together, if not then the Droid would have come out in the US with pinch zoom instead of only on the European version(Milestone). I think iPhone wasnot having that.

 

[DGalt]

lol I just had this image of the protypical table of rich old guys sitting around, drinking brandy, and deciding the fate of the world

 

[hanano17]

People make too much out of processor speed. If you want to see what the Passion may run like, look at the hands on of the SE Xperia X10. Same processor and also has a larger screen. The hands on failed to impress many, most even saying the Droid had more wow factor. The hands on also was with the X10 running 1.6...and it lagged in areas the Droid didn't. It still has time to get whatever kinks worked out to make it smoother/better, but how will it handle 2.0?

The Moto Droid is a great phone, I don't regret getting it or not waiting to 'see'.

 

[DGalt]

from my understanding 2.0 is more optimized for hardware then 1.6
and nobody can say whether or not Rachael is just poorly coded

 

[hanano17]

from my understanding 2.0 is more optimized for hardware then 1.6
and nobody can say whether or not Rachael is just poorly coded

Better equiped to take advantage, like more colors...but that doesn't necessarily mean it will run better. We will see.

The real issue here is humans. We will always want 'more'.

 

[Barbara]

Better equiped to take advantage, like more colors...but that doesn't necessarily mean it will run better. We will see.

The real issue here is humans. We will always want 'more'.

While at dinner tonight husband and I were talking about an upcoming "date" and dinner downtown. I pulled out the phone, went to Open Table and made reservations for our date. If I had waited, I wouldn't have been able to do that.

 

[syntrix]

Yeah, but at $499, you could jump on TMo w/n900, do 500min for $29/mo., and add data for another $10, and it would more than cover any subsidy in the first year vs. same VZ/DROID plan...whether the n900 will do it for you is the ques. however. I took my Droid back mainly for reception issues, and compared to the TP2 I was waiting for, DROID is so much more responsive. If it had TV Out it would suit me fine in GSM trim.FWIW, word on the street is that Canada will get a North American GSM version in Q1 2010, but whether one can get it to work "down here" is not known...should have the hardware though.

And you would have absolutely no coverage when traveling out of the city!

You still haven't answered the broken glass/screen on your droid questions, and I heard you took it back, ie no longer a droid owner

Good luck in making that "GSM" version work in the states! I guess you missed the release of a keyboardless droid with hdmi out in 1Q2010

You are searching for a droid on ATT, OP is just asking about the droid today. I'd say do it and keep in mind that you have 30 days to return it. Just keep in mind things like restock fees or if early termination fees apply. Good luck OP!

 

[colnago]

And you would have absolutely no coverage when traveling out of the city!

You still haven't answered the broken glass/screen on your droid questions, and I heard you took it back, ie no longer a droid owner

Good luck in making that "GSM" version work in the states! I guess you missed the release of a keyboardless droid with hdmi out in 1Q2010

You are searching for a droid on ATT, OP is just asking about the droid today. I'd say do it and keep in mind that you have 30 days to return it. Just keep in mind things like restock fees or if early termination fees apply. Good luck OP!

Dude I posted like 4 different times, on 2 different forums, "no broken glass...it was shadows/reflections from window".

I was mostly commenting on the post about the n900 being "expensive", and providing an example of an alternative on picking up "any" unlocked phone, and how it can actually wind up being cheaper. Be it Android, or whatever.

Regarding Tmobile, coverage is decent around here...I think it even works underground in DC Metro (maybe). Plus they're rollin out the 7Mb and 21Mb network next year, so that'll be..."nice". Not a network fanboi in any respect...just know my Moto Q on AT&T had 3-4 bars where DROID dropped connection in multiple spots around town (I still think its the antenna because my antenna mod helped so much).

I have no desire at all for a keyboardless device, and HDMI won't help me connect it to my Pioneer AVIC in the 20th...composite baby!

Not married to AT&T at all, in fact, I look forward to cutting my bill in half with the $39/mo for Voice + Data on TMo, with unlocked phone. N900 will be a gift so any venture in getting Canadian DROID to work will be on my dime...supposed to be coming with 850/1900 per Moto's Canadian site. Thing is, I would have liked to have kept it for my trip to Philly, to check reception, but having my battery run down 80% in 3hrs at mom's house while it tried to get any signal at all, was too much. This less that 2 miles from VZ store.

I whole heartedly agree with the 30 day trial, which I was in, which is why I'd like a GSM DROID . This from someone who knew nothing about it, was looking at other similar phones, and grew to like a lot about what the DROID had to offer...even with upcoming "faster" phones. Yes I'm going through DROID internet browsing withdrawl.


- Also, as others have stated, I never noticed any lag, which has prevented me from enjoying any of the DROID's features. Sure, having 2x processing power may make a difference in upcoming phones, but in real world use, it would be negligible...at least at this stage of the OS's life cycle.